Caged
by translucent-floral-skeletons
Summary: Hermione has always been very confident in her opinions and feelings; logic has always been the driving force in her life. But the interactions between her and Draco go beyond being explained simply and logically; there's more depth there than anyone may have ever thought.
1. Chapter 1: Yule Ball

"Look to the left," Parvati told Hermione, as she applied mascara to frame Hermione's chocolate-colored eyes.

"Alright, now look at me," said Parvati, stepping back. Hermione looked straight ahead, and Parvati was finally satisfied with her work.

"Victor is going to be stunned by you, I guarantee it," said Parvati, smiling. Hermione stood up and walked over to the full length mirror, twirling round and round in her flowing pink dress.

"Oh, thank you so much for your help Parvati," Hermione beamed. She slipped on her silky dress shoes, and walked down the staircase of the girl's dormitory, followed by Parvati. Exiting the Gryffindor common room, Hermione walked off down a corridor to the place where she was to meet Victor Krum, and Parvati headed toward the Great Hall.

Hermione met Victor, who looked charming in his dress robes. They made their grand entrance into the Great Hall, and Hermione couldn't help but notice the looks of shock on Harry's and Ron's faces. All eyes seemed to be on her and Victor, expressions ranging from shock, to jealousy, to happiness for her.

Hermione noticed one pale face that was looking paler than usual, all of the sharp edges softened, the smug expression wiped away for a flicker of a second, replaced with something that Hermione couldn't decipher.

She examined him. Malfoy's blonde hair was slicked back, his cold grey eyes fixated on her. It sent a warm chill through Hermione. His black dress robe cascaded down his thin figure, the silver fastenings glistening in the light of the thousands of candles that burned overhead. His stance was so casual, as if nothing at this ball interested him in the least. But she'd noticed the change that had occurred in it. How he had stood a little straighter when he saw her, his head had tilted back slightly. Was that jealousy etched on his face for a fleeting second? Or was it the usual look if disgust that he habitually shot at her? Yes, surely it was the latter. But Hermione almost caught the corner of her mouth curving into a smile that she just barely suppressed, and her stomach had leaped into her throat. This had all happened in the course of a couple seconds. Hermione looked down at her shoes just in time to keep herself from tripping over a crack in a stone in the floor. Victor smiled at her and she looked up at him, returning the grin. The first dance began, and soon Hermione was consumed by the festivities of the evening. Suddenly those fleeting couple of seconds had lost all importance to her.


	2. Chapter 2: Two Years Later

Everyone was pouring out of the Great Hall, eager to get to their first class of the year. Hermione walked slowly at the edge of the crowd, reading the front page of the Daily Prophet, with Harry and Ron on either side of her.

"Did you know," she began, "there's a recent shortage of Dementors at Azkaban? That's strange, I-"

"_Really_ fascinating, Granger," came a drawling voice from behind them. Draco Malfoy was taking huge strides to catch up to the trio, robes billowing. His blond hair was thick with gel, an improvement from last year, Hermione noticed.

"Get lost, Malfoy," Harry muttered, and the three started walking faster. Draco could easily keep up with them, but he simply smirked and walked past, catching up with the other Slytherins. Hermione couldn't help noticing that he looked awful. Not in terms of overall looks though; he'd always been something to look at, everyone knew that. But his grey eyes were more distant, with black circles forming underneath. He wasn't wholeheartedly harassing them like he usually did. Even his voice was a bit weaker than usual. Hermione actually pitied him; he knew no other life than that of the dark side. She felt sorry for him.

"That was easy," said Ron. He was quite adorable now, Hermione had to admit. Not in an extremely attractive way though; more in the way that one would just want to pet his shaggy red hair, as if he were a puppy. It was rather amusing to Hermione. Compared to everyone else in their year, he didn't seem nearly as tall as he used to be.

They reached their Transfiguration class. It went by quickly, along with the rest of the day's classes. As they walked into the Great Hall for the evening meal, Hermione felt uneasy. She looked around at all the people rushing to the Great Hall. From a distance behind her, through the sea of faces, she saw Malfoy. He looked absolutely exhausted, and his tired eyes were trained on her. The crowd slowed at the congested entrance to the Great Hall. She walked slowly, still looking at him. He hadn't seemed to notice she was staring back. When he nearly tripped over the hem of his robes, he snapped out of his daze. Hermione's questioning gaze seemed to disorient him even more, and he looked over her shoulder, pretending to have been looking at the entrance to the Great Hall.

"_What was that?" asked Harry. He'd seen the entire silent exchange. Hermione simply shook her head, her long brown curls following the motion._

•••

_I don't think I've ever been this tired or stressed in my life. That's saying something. My head is foggy as I walk to the Great Hall to eat. My eyes are locked on her flowing brown curls. What I would give to run my fingers through her hair. And those eyes. She's always had a nice figure, but her hair has really become the highlight of her appearance. It frames her face perfectly. Her feet turn in slightly when she walks. Her hands are slim and elega-_

_Dammit, I think, as I nearly faceplant on the stone floor. And then I notice that she's staring back at me. Shit. I look over her shoulder at the doorway to the Great Hall, smoothly covering up the fact that I was just blatantly staring at her. I don't know how much longer I can handle this._

•••


	3. Chapter 3: Logic

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in so long, but here it is! Thank you so much for the reviews and such! :)

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><p>It was about a month into the school year at Hogwarts. The leaves crunched beneath the trio's feet as they made their way leisurely across the grounds. One large tree in particular was responsible for littering the ground with vibrant ruby-coloured leaves. They stopped here, set their books down, and sat down in the midst of grass and fallen leaves. Several other students were milling about, enjoying the last of the semi-warm weather before the frost set in.<p>

Hermione pulled out a book. Ron and Harry sat against the enormous tree trunk, gazing about. Harry talked about various meetings he'd had with Dumbledore, in which he'd explained to Harry the immense task he had of solving the puzzle that could lead to the defeat of the Dark Lord.

Hermione was only half listening. Her book lay open in her lap, but she hadn't even begun to read. She was preoccupied with deciphering the jump her heart had made into her throat when she'd caught sight of Malfoy across the grounds. Was it the strange mixture of hatred and pity she knew she should have for him? She was casting about for various explanations; her typical logical way of thinking was naturally ruling out any possibility of her actually having feelings for the prick.  
>But logic was beginning to fail her. That fact alone scared her nearly as much as the possibility of her having a silly schoolgirl crush on him. Draco Malfoy, of all people.<p>

"What do you think Dumbledore meant by that, Hermione?" asked Harry. Hermione snapped back to the conversation, turning her had to look at Harry. Him and Ron were looking at her, looks of confusion etched on their faces.

"She's not even listening!" exclaimed Ron, whose gaze was now on Malfoy, where Hermione had been looking.

"Sorry!" Hermione said, flustered. "I'm exhausted," she explained, which wasn't exactly a lie. Ron just raised his eyebrows at her, then exchanged a look with Harry. This wasn't the first time they'd caught her daydreaming, staring off into Malfoy's vicinity. It wasn't like her to daydream in the first place. Hermione was distracted again by a glimpse of red in the sky.

"What is your problem?" asked Harry, more concerned than legitimately aggravated.

"She fancies Malfoy," Ron said bluntly. Hermione was caught off guard. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but her moment of hesitation had already said enough.  
>"I was just kidding!" Ron exclaimed, a look of pure shock on his and Harry's faces. Their eyes were wide, and they were smiling with with their mouths wide open. Hermione knew that she'd made a huge mistake, and trying to cover it up would only make their smugness worse.<p>

She tried nonetheless. "I do not!" she nearly shouted. She was angry now. Not toward Ron or Harry though, or even Draco. She was angry with herself; angry that she couldn't figure out what she was feeling and why, when that was something that had always been so easy for her.

•••

I'm not stupid. I know when someone's blatantly staring at me. I often choose not to acknowledge them though; it's easier.

Right now, I can feel her gaze. I know her every movement without even looking at her. She's sitting underneath The Tree, tapping her foot slightly in the air, idly twirling a bit if that cascading hair.

But maybe she's not looking at me. I look around. There's no one really in my immediate vicinity; Crabbe and Goyle both have detention right now for being "disruptive" during Transfiguration, the annoying gits.

I'd orginally been making my way toward the door, but I'd passed it about 15 meters back without even realising it. I continue walking as if I know exactly where I'm going. My new destination appears to be the lake. This really is exhausting.

•••


	4. Chapter Three and a Half

The two of them crept along the bushes by the lake.

"Get down!" Draco whispered as he grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and ducked behind the greenery. Hermione peeked through the bushes, and caught a glimpse of herself sitting against that tree, book in lap, eyes on Malfoy. She saw Harry turn to her, and she knew that he was asking her what she thought Dumbledore meant by something or another.

She looked down at her hand, which Draco still had a hold of, then glanced up at him. He seemed to realize that he was still holding onto her hand and let go quickly; looking embarrassed, he turned his attention back to the scene that was replaying in front them.

Draco rummaged through his pockets for a moment.

"Can you hold onto this for me?" He asked, handing her the mystical object by its delicate silver chain. She nodded and took it from him, putting it around her neck and hiding it beneath her robes, just as she'd done all of her third year.

Draco stood up tentatively, so as not to be seen. Hermione took advantage of the fact that no one was around to see her slyly staring up at him.

"On three," he whispered, eyes staring into the distance. He raised his wand.

"One," he whispered, then paused. "Two," then as he shot a red streak into the sky, he whispered "Three!"  
>They both took off running.<p> 


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